Image rights companies have become common among top footballers and accepted by tax authorities

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been accused of disproportionately targeting football for tax rises after the Budget laid out plans for a raid on image rights earnings.

Top footballers benefit from setting up image rights companies which are taxed at a lower rate than their salaries, but the government says it will legislate “to ensure that all image rights payments related to an employment are treated as taxable employment income” from 2027.

It is just the latest move from successive governments to wring more money out of the nation’s favourite sport and the relatively small number of players who drive interest in it.

“While the government didn’t mention football in the Budget, with it signa

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